Totti back in the spotlight

Some of AS Roma’s players were not even born when Francesco Totti made his debut for the club and the 36-year-old shows no signs of stopping after reaching another milestone in his remarkable career.

One of the very few one-club players in the modern game, Totti has found a second wind this season as he partners players such as Nicolas Lopez and Alessio Romagnoli, who were both born after he made his Roma debut in March 1993.

There has even been talk of an Italy recall for Totti who has not played for his country since winning the 2006 World Cup.

Tributes flowed for Totti after he converted a penalty against Genoa last Sunday to score his 225th Serie A goal to equal Gunnar Nordahl’s total and became joint highest all-time scorer in the league’s history. “Totti is simply a champion and, like all champions, he has unimaginable resources,” said seasoned Italian coach Fabio Capello this week.

“He may have lost a bit of pace, but he has made up for that with astuteness and intelligence,” said the former AC Milan, AS Roma, Real Madrid and England coach, now with Russia.

“I was the first to use him in a more advanced attacking role because I realised that his success rate was very high every time he shot at goal. “He can’t play forever but he can still play on for a couple more years. He can’t play in all the games, he has to understand that he can only continue at this standard if he plays in a limited number of matches.”

“But he must realise that he can’t always play; he can only continue at these levels if he appears in a certain amount of matches.”